Aitor Karanka said that the confidence is flowing through Nottingham Forest at the moment and he wants his side to continue improving ahead of the visit of Preston on Saturday.

The Reds are on a seven-game unbeaten run in the league and Karanka knows his side must continue to work hard to achieve their goals this season.

He said: "I am really pleased because in every single game, the team is showing improvement. I said we needed time and now we are in a good moment, everybody is confident and playing better every day.

"We are getting more compact on the pitch, we are not conceding goals and we are playing football but there is a long way to go. We are still in December and there is a long way until we are finished.

"When you arrive to a point or achieve something, it is more difficult to stay at that point than it is to get there.

"It has been difficult for us to get to the position we are in now but we haven't done anything yet. We have to keep going, forget what we have done until now and keep going and improving in the way we have been doing."

Preston visit The City Ground this weekend and Karanka is expecting a tough encounter against Alex Neil's side who have been hampered by injuries this season.

"It will be really tough; we had the example last season against them," he said. "They are a really good team, Alex has done a really good job. They didn't start the season well because of the injuries but they are recovering their style and their confidence.

"The last game against Birmingham, I don't think is a good example because they missed a lot of players and I am expecting a really tough game."